John Nash: Biography of Regency Architect see: Architecture Glossary . John Nash's Architecture One of the greatest architects of metropolitan London during the Regency era (c.1810-30), John Nash was a highly original and prolific designer, best known for the neoclassical architecture he used in the Marylebone region of London, notably Regent's Park (1812-27), an impressive complex of rigorously classical buildings. Part of the Picturesque movement, he combined irregular views with Neoclassical structures, making use of the widest variety of styles and urbanistic ideas. In addition, he was among the initiators of the revival of Gothic and Renaissance architecture , Exoticism, and similar styles, that became typical of 19th century architecture in England.

His most famous examples of classicism included city terraces in London (Royal Mews 1825; Cumberland Terrace 1828; Carlton Terrace 1827-32), major urban structures (Theatre Royal Haymarket 1820), country houses and castellated villas (East Cowes Castle 1798-1802; Ravensworth Castle 1808), and picturesque cottages (Blaise Hamlet 1810-11). He also designed the neoclassical All Souls Church in Langham Place (182224), and the gothic-style St. Mary's Church Haggerston (182527). His most unorthodox building was the Royal Pavilion in Brighton (1815-22) - a fantastic version of Indian design, with elements of Chinese, Moorish and Gothic architecture . The layout of the West End of London, including Trafalgar Square, St James's Park, and the Royal Mews off the Mall, owes a great deal to his innovative designs and planning.

He also worked on Buckingham Palace, although here he was less unsuccessful and after the King's death he lost his royal commissions. See also Victorian Art (1840-1900). Biography Born in Lambeth, the son of a millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor (1714-88) and began as a surveyor and builder, before opening his own architectural practice at the age of 25. Alas, despite receiving a substantial family inheritance of £1000 in 1778, Nash's decision to invest in property proved unwise and he was declared bankrupt five years later. After this, he left London and settled near his mother in Carmarthen, Wales. It was in Wales that he completed his first important projects of late-18th century architecture , the prisons at Carmarthen (1789-92), Cardigan (1791-96) and Hereford (179296). He also renovated St David's Cathedral (1789-91) by adding two large flying buttresses, and designed Castle House Aberystwyth (1795) in Picturesque style.

In addition, he designed a dozen small country houses or "villas", located throughout South Wales, such as Llanerchaeron (c.1795). While working in the principality, Nash formed a profitable 8-year partnership with landscape gardener Humphrey Repton (1752-1818). Then in 1797 he returned to London. His first major project after settling in London was out of town. In 1798 he designed his own summer residence, East Cowes Castle, on the Isle of Wight. It was the first of a number of picturesque Gothic castles that he would build across England. (Later he also built his own town house at No.14 Regent street: 1819-23). Other Nash "castles" - all executed in the asymmetrical and picturesque style of architecture - included: Luscombe Castle, Devon (180004); Ravensworth Castle, North Durham (begun 1807); Caerhays Castle, Cornwall (180810); Shanbally Castle, County Tipperary (1818-19).

To these, Nash added groups of buildings, such as Blaise Hamlet (18101811), considered by some critics to be the last word in the Picturesque idiom. Another type of design he produced was the Italianate Renaissance-style villa, as exemplified by Cronkhill (1802), Sandridge Park (1805) and Southborough Place, Surrey (1808). Architect to the Prince Regent: Regency Architecture Politically, Nash was a supporter of the Whig party and a friend of Charles James Fox (1749-1806). Through this and other contacts, Nash came to the attention of the English Prince Regent, later King George IV (1762-1830). As a result, in 1806, Nash was given the position of architect to the Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases, and, from 1810, worked almost exclusively for the King. In this position he became an important exponent of the Regency Style of architecture - a style inspired by Greek art of classical antiquity.

The first major royal commission was the development of Marylebone (today's Regent Street, Regent's Park and St James's Park). With the assistance of other architects including James Pennethorne (1801-71) and Decimus Burton (1800-81), Nash designed Carlton House Terrace (18271832), Park Crescent (1812-21), and Park Square (182324), as well as villa developments like Park Village East and Park Village West (182334). In addition, Nash was responsible for the planning and completion of Regent's Canal (1812-20). Other royal commissions included the design of two of London's theatres: the King's Opera House (now, Her Majesty's Theatre) (18161818), and the severely neoclassical Theatre Royal Haymarket (1821), with its hexastyle Corinthian columns.

After this came the redesign of Buckingham House, creating Buckingham Palace (18251830), followed by the Royal Mews (182224) and Marble Arch (1828). Nash's career and influenced declined abruptly with the death of George IV. Both the King's extravagance and Nash's own success had attracted considerable resentment. The huge cost of his work on Buckingham Palace, in particular, caused enormous controversy, and effectively denied him the knighthood traditionally awarded to royal architects. In response, Nash retired to his home on the Isle of Wight. Royal Pavilion, Brighton (1815-22) This was Nash's most unusual and exotic architectural design. Starting out as the Prince's Marine Pavilion, it became the Royal Pavilion, on completion. It was originally built by Henry Holland (1745-1806). Nash transformed it from an earlier Palladian-style house into a flamboyant example of eclectic, whimsical Picturesque architecture, to host the summer entertainments of the Prince Regent.

Modelled on Mughal architecture, which lent it it a distinctly exotic appearance, its exterior - complete with minarets and bulbous onion domes - resembles the geometrically disciplined Taj Mahal at Agra, Northern India (1630-53). Its more unorthodox features included: a gothic-parapeted, circular staircase in the castellated turret provides access to the upper dome, which was modified to accomodate three bedrooms, each with a fireplace and windows; and a marquee-style roof of the pagoda dome above the Banqueting Room and Music Room. For the interior, cast-iron was disguised as bamboo and gas-lighting was installed to display the brilliant chinoiserie to its greatest effect. Other Buildings Designed by John Nash - Southborough House, Surbiton (begun 1808) - The Rotunda, Woolwich (1814, 1820) - St.

James's Park (181427) - Suffolk Place, Haymarket (1820) John Nash, Regency Architect BY DAVID ROSS , EDITOR Royal Pavilion, Brighton Technically John Nash does not belong to the Victorian period, but to the earlier Georgian era. However, I have chosen to place him in the Victorian era as his major works were very much in the style of the 19th century, and his influence was felt much more heavily in that period. John Nash (1752-1835) was the son of a millwright, but he cast aside his father's profession and apprenticed with architect Sir Robert Taylor. He soon wearied of apprenticeship, however, and In a typical act of impatience he set up his own practice. Nash's first major venture was a speculative effort building London houses of brick which were faced with stucco painted to emulate stone. The venture fell flat, and Nash retired to the country. There he began to build a successful practice, partnering with landscape architect Humphrey Repton on several projects - Nash built the houses, Repton the grounds. In 1802 the two split up and Nash returned to London.

There Nash's natural ebullience found its scope tackling visionary (read extravagant) schemes for his sponsor the Prince Regent. In 1811 the Prince Regent asked three architects, including Nash, for ideas on developing the farmland called Marylebone Park and the surrounding areas. Nash's ambitious plans included a "garden city", with villas, terraced houses, crescents, a canal, and lakes. Park Crescent, by John Nash The prime focus of the developement was a proposed avenue from Prince Regent's Park to "Prinnie's" home at Carlton House in the Mall. The area covered by Nash's scheme covered the present Regent's Park, Trafalgar Square, St. Jame's Park, and Regent Street. The enthusiastic Prince Regent threw his support (and more importantly, his money), behind Nash's scheme, and for the next 23 years until his death, Nash laboured to create his vision. Several elements of Nash's sweeping scheme had to be abandonned, including a summer palace in Regent's Park, and the present day Regent's Street has been much altered.

As the work in London continued, Nash took on other projects for the Prince Regent, including the remodeling of Brighton Pavillion. There was already a villa at Brighton, designed by Henry Holland, and the Prince Regent asked Nash to make it into a palace. This Nash did, beginning in the Indian fashion then popular, and as work progressed, incorporating further Eastern design elements. The result has been called "Indian Gothic with a flavour of Chinese" (Enyclopedia of Architecture, Doreen Yarwood, 1993). Back in London, Nash remodelled Carlton House as Carlton House Terrace (1827-1833) and built Cumberland Terrace (1827), The Royal Mews (1825), Haymarket Theatre (1820), All Soul's church in Langham Place (1822-25). He also created what is now Trafalgar Square. The buildings that surround the latter were all added by later architects however. Cumberland House London, by John Nash Nash's other major building project in London, Buckingham Palace , did not fare so well, however. When Nash began work on the Palace in 1825 it was still Buckingham House.

The Prince Regent had decided that Carlton House was "antiquated, rundown, and decrepit", and decided to create a palace on the site of the Duke of Buckingham's former villa. Nash was dillatory in his work however (and erected and pulled down several wings of the building according to his moods), that the Prince Regent died before work was finished. Nash was finally dismissed from the project, and all that remains of his work at the palace is the west wing. Nash had designed a triumphal gateway to stand at the end of the Mall. However, it was discovered that the state coach was too wide to fit through the opening! The gate was then moved to Hyde Park corner, where it became known as Marble Arch. Summing Up John Nash helped define the style of an era. Through his friendship with the Prince Regent, his influence on Regency art and architecture cannot be overstated. He worked in many architectural styles, from Gothic to Italianate, Palladian, Greek, and picturesque. He was enthusiastic and impatient, yet a man blessed with great talent and creative vision. Related: Who built Buckingham Palace? Who built Buckingham Palace?

Origins The history of the site where Buckingham Palace now stands can be traced back to the reign of James I (r.1603-25), who established under royal patronage a plantation of mulberries for the rearing of silkworms in what is now the Buckingham Palace garden. It is clear that when Charles I (r.1625-49) granted the garden to Lord Aston in 1628, a substantial house already existed on the site. The house had a succession of owners and tenants until, in 1698, it was let to the man who was to give the house its name – John Sheffield, later the Duke of Buckingham. Finding the house very dated in appearance, the Duke demolished the building to create the new ‘Buckingham House’. The house stood exactly on the site occupied by Buckingham Palace today. It was designed and built with the assistance of William Talman, Comptroller of the Works to William III, and Captain William Winde, a retired soldier. John Fitch built the main structure by contract for £7,000.

At one stage Buckingham House was considered as a potential site for the British Museum, but was eventually turned down on account of ‘the greatness of the sum demanded for it [30,000] [and] the inconvenience of the situation’. The Queen’s House Buckingham House remained the property of the Dukes of Buckingham until 1761, when George III (r.1760-1820) acquired the whole site as a private family residence for his wife, Queen Charlotte, and their children. It came to be known as ‘The Queen’s House’. Sir William Chambers was put in charge of remodelling and modernising the house between 1762 and 1776, at a cost of £73,000. With ceilings designed by Robert Adam and painted by Giovanni Battista Cipriani, The Queen’s rooms on the principal floor were among the most sophisticated of their time. George IV There was a great debate at the start of the 19th century about building an entirely new royal palace, but when George III’s son, George IV (r.1820-30), acceded to the throne, the plan was abandoned.

George IV was 60, overweight and in poor health. Having felt very much at home at The Queen’s House during his childhood, the King wanted the existing house to be transformed into his palace. The King put John Nash, Official Architect to the Office of Woods and Forests, in charge of all the work. During the last five years of George IV’s life, Nash enlarged Buckingham House into the imposing U-shaped building which was to become Buckingham Palace. Nash’s design was essentially an enlargement of the plan of Buckingham House. He extended the central block of the building westwards and to the north and south, and the two wings to the east were entirely rebuilt. The wings enclosed a grand forecourt which transformed the aspect of the Palace from St James’s Park. Nash also created a triumphal arch in the centre of the forecourt. The arch formed part of a ceremonial processional approach to the Palace and celebrated Britain’s recent naval and military victories. The Buckingham Palace created by Nash was widely regarded as a masterpiece. It came, however, at a considerable cost. By 1828 Nash had spent £496,169 on the changes to the building.

Soon after the death of George IV two years later, the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, dismissed Nash from his post for over-spending. Lord Duncannon, First Commissioner of Works, took over the task of overseeing the completion of the Palace. Duncannon appointed a new architect in Edward Blore, who extended the east façade at both ends and created a new entrance (the Ambassadors’ Entrance) on the southern side. The furnishing stage had not been reached at Buckingham Palace during George IV’s lifetime. His successor, his brother William IV (r.1830-37), showed no interest in moving from his home at Clarence House, and, when the old Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire, he offered the still-incomplete Buckingham Palace as a replacement. The offer was respectfully declined, and Parliament voted to allow the ‘completing and perfecting’ of the Palace for royal use. Under Duncannon and Blore’s supervision, the State Rooms were completed between 1833 and 1834. They were furnished with some of the finest objects from Carlton House, George IV’s London home when Prince of Wales, which had been demolished in 1827.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert In February 1845, eight years after ascending the throne, Queen Victoria (r.1837-1901) complained to the Prime Minister, Robert Peel, about the lack of sufficient space in Buckingham Palace for accommodation and entertaining. Edward Blore was therefore instructed to prepare plans for a new wing, enclosing Nash’s forecourt on its eastern side. Brighton Pavilion was sold in 1846, and the proceeds of the sale (£53,000) were used to fund the works. By far the most significant element of Blore’s design was the central balcony on the new main façade, which was incorporated at Prince Albert’s suggestion. From here Queen Victoria saw her troops depart to the Crimean War and welcomed them on their return. In 1852 the architect James Pennethorne completed the Ball and Concert Room and the Ball Supper Room, linked by galleries to Nash’s State Apartments at their southern end. As part of the redevelopment, the triumphal arch (the Marble Arch) was moved to the north-east corner of Hyde Park.

The Renaissance-style interiors of the new rooms placed Buckingham Palace in the avant-garde of decoration in England, leading the critic of The Builder to designate the Palace as the ‘Headquarters of Taste’. King Edward VII When the new King Edward VII (r.1901-10) came to the throne, he swiftly set about the complete redecoration of the interior of the Palace. The new white and gold decorative scheme can today be seen in a number of the State Rooms, including the Ballroom. Improvements were also made to the heating, ventilation and electric lighting. King George V and Queen Mary During the reign of King George V (r.1910-36), the decision was taken to reface the front of Buckingham Palace in harder-wearing Portland stone. Completed in 1914, this is the grand façade that overlooks the Mall today. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Under King George VI (r.1936-52) and Queen Elizabeth, very few changes were made to Buckingham Palace, as the outbreak of the Second World War coincided with the first half of the King’s reign.

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh In 1962, on the initiative of The Duke of Edinburgh, a new public exhibition gallery for the Royal Collection, The Queen’s Gallery, was created from the bombed-out ruins of the former Private Chapel. The Queen's Gallery was completely refurbished and expanded in 2002 to mark Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee. CHRISTOPHER A LONG - Regent's Park & John Nash See Print Journalism Index At first sight Regent's Park is not exactly reminiscent of Milton Keynes. Nor would the residents of Regent's Park be pleased to hear their particular neck of the woods compared with Welwyn Garden City or Hampstead Garden Suburb. The truth is that there is indeed a link between them. Grand, posh, smart and splendid as Regent's Park undoubtedly is, it is also probably the first British example of purpose-built, suburban planning. The man who dreamt up this 'grand scheme' was, of course, John Nash. The man he built it for was the Prince Regent. And the park and its surroundings were only a small part of an even grander scheme which was never fully developed.

It was in 1810 that the Prince took over as regent when his father, George lll, became both physically and mentally unable to rule. In the same year the Prince, later George lV, first had the idea of creating a spectacular and triumphal road sweeping down from land in Marylebone (which had recently reverted to the Crown) to the steps of his already spectacular palace, Carlton House, over-looking St James's Park . The land in Marylebone had remained undeveloped because the surface was covered in deep clay, making it boggy and wet. Furthermore, the absence of London clay below ground made it impossible to sink wells to supply fresh water. This was no problem to John Nash, the brilliant son of a poor Lambeth millwright who had already earned himself a great name as a designer of country houses. Two years later he published his first plan of Regent's Park. It was immediately clear that London was about to be transformed  a new concept in style and stucco would be copied and reproduced throughout London in years to come. Quite how the rather pompous, flashy and not wholly popular Nash came to be so acceptable to the decadent, idle and spendthrift Prince Regent isn't clear.

The Prince was clever enough to spot Nash's talent and certainly had an interest in architecture as the Brighton Pavilion demonstrates. Maybe there's truth in the story that Nash's much younger wife was one of the Prince's mistresses. In any event the Nash scheme was accepted in 1813 and work went on to try to complete it until 1825. The park itself was to be an extravagant and splendid end to a ceremonial road from what is now Waterloo Place. It was to climb up Lower Regent Street, cross Piccadilly , curve along Regent Street itself, broaden into Portland Place and sweep round into Park Crescent. There, on all sides, Nash planned a mixture of large and small family houses with their own shops, church, carriage-ways and stabling  all overlooking a huge landscaped park. The park was geographically much as we know it today, as are the lake, inner roads and 'circuses'. Not visible are the canals and pavilions and the barracks planned for the north-west corner, which have either now vanished or were never completed. An important barracks on the western side of the park was in use until quite recently.

All the Royal Parks in London had barracks beside them, the open land being ideal for exercising horses and troops. Kensington Barracks was destroyed in the 1980s but Wellington Barracks is served by both St James's Park and Green Park while Knightsbridge Barracks lies within Hyde Park. As the massive development went ahead there was something appropriate and at the same time ironic about the scale and cost of this outrageous whim. In the year of its conception, 1812, Napoleon was defeated by the Russian snows. In 1815, when the builders were at work, Wellington dealt Napoleon and France a final humiliating defeat. After years of threat to Britain and her Empire, here at last was a time to build a ceremonial road of honour through London. Yet, at the same time, the industrial revolution was hitting the poor harder than ever before. The new rich who would buy Crown leases on Nash's houses around the park were light years removed from the squalor and slums just a few streets away from Portland Place and the grand circuses on Piccadilly, Oxford Street (then the Oxford Road) and inside the park itself. And not everyone was thrilled about the style either.

Maria Edgeworth said at the time that she was: "properly surprised by the new town that has been built in Regent's Park  and indignant at the plaister statues and horrid, useless domes and pediments crowded with mock sculpture figures which damp and smoke must destroy in a season or two". Present residents find that she was, to some extent, right. The cost of maintaining Nash's buildings is exorbitant. For all his genius in creating ornamental crescents, rides, lakes and gardens, Nash's building techniques left much to be desired. His buildings have been described as bold, imaginative and slapdash  and probably only the best of them have survived because so many of his country houses and London terraces have been structurally shoddy. In Regent's Park, however, most survive  even if the Victorians were unable to restrain the impulse to make the gardens more fussy and elaborate than originally intended. Nevertheless, the houses remain as Nash planned them, concentrated for the most part in the south-east corner. What does not exist  and in fact never fully existed  is the rest of Nash's scheme for the road to Carlton House.

Certainly All Soul's Church in Langham Place is still there (though the interior is a modern restoration following wartime German bomb damage). Also still visible is Nash's beautiful Theatre Royal, in the Haymarket, just round the corner from the Prince Regent's palace at Carlton House , also designed by Nash. The latter was pulled down when the Prince became George lV and the court moved to Buckingham Palace instead. We can only speculate as to what Regent Street might have looked like in Nash's stucco-fronted, wedding-cake style if, by 1825, the money had not run out and the whole scheme had not petered out rather inadequately into the Duke of York's Steps instead. In some ways it may have been a blessing that the grand scheme, based on Regent's Park, was never completed. The idea was much more suited to Vienna, Paris or Rome. London, being a curious collection of intricately related villages, is somehow too intimate, too much of a workaday town, on a human scale, to accommodate the equivalent of the Etoile, the Champs Elysées and the Place de la Concorde  all of which suit Paris so well.

Perhaps it's not at all surprising that roughly ten years after Nash's builders stopped work, someone thought of a much better use for part of Regent's Park. The very focal point of Nash's dream suburb was where someone decided the royal menagerie should be re-housed. There was something very English, eccentric and delightfully heretical about the idea of herding together exotic lions, tigers, ostriches and camels in the centre of so much classical elegance. The Zoological Society of London was founded in 1826 by Sir Stamford Raffles and eminent men such as Sir Humphrey Davy. The following year the zoo itself was established in Regent's Park, open only to members of the society. Some animals came from the Royal Menagerie which had been based for centuries at the Tower of London, while others were donated by Raffles and other collectors and scientists. Of the animals from the Tower of London, only the ravens were left behind  on a pension of two shillings and sixpence (12.5 pence today) to provide them with food and lodging. They remain there to this day.

But within twenty years of its establishment the Zoo was facing financial disaster and so it was, in 1847, that the 35 acres in the north-east corner of the park were opened to the public at one shilling (five pence today) on weekdays and thus reducing the exclusive access to members to Sundays only. The Zoo now became fashionable. 'The Great Vance' popularised it with his musical hall song 'Walking in the Zoo is the OK Thing to Do' and 1882 was the year of Jumbo-mania. Jumbo was the Zoo's largest African elephant, weighing six and a half tons and standing 11 ft tall at the shoulder. When he became older and more aggressive the American showman Barnum offered to buy him for &dollar;10,000, even after he had wrecked his stall and broken his tusks in frustration. The public were appalled at the prospect of his sale and visitors, gifts, songs and cartoons all expressed the public's emotional response to the giant, 'jumbo-sized' elephant. Eventually he went to America where he was killed by a train in 1885.

By then, however, Jumbo had focused maximum attention on the Zoo and the revenue earned allowed rapid expansion in both scientific research work and new facilities for the viewing public. While some of the original Decimus Burton buildings still survive, most have gone to make way for a continuing programme of impressive new buildings. These include the Cotton Terraces for giraffes and zebras, the Charles Clore pavilion for mammals and the moonlit world, the new Lion Terraces, Lord Snowdon's futuristic aviary and Sir John Casson's Elephant House. A great improvement is the suite of Michael Sobell Pavilions for apes and monkeys. But dominating them all are the famous Mappin Terraces, donated in 1913 by the cutlery and jewellery firm based in Nash's Regent Street. Today the Zoo looks healthy enough to the one million or more visitors each year  as do its inmates. But despite the massive investment in buildings and improved facilities for the paying public, the Zoo faces a severe financial problem. The public is staying away in droves. London Zoo needs the public to pay to see captive animals in order to fund its invaluable research and scientific work, which helps save and protect species in the wild all over the world.

Unfortunately, the public doesn't seem to like the idea or the price of entry to something they find to be an increasingly offensive exploitation of animals. They have been told, and now believe, that animals should be allowed to run free and prosper in the wild. The Royal Zoological Society faces a crisis and is hard at work encouraging private, individual sponsorship of individual animals  aiming the campaign at children in particular. Recently the government has announced that it will provide funds to cover an operating deficit of up to £2 million in the first year, but that it is not prepared to provide capital funds. The Zoo has been told to try a lot harder to woo and win the public's attention. Nevertheless, the Zoo will no doubt survive, even if it has to adapt in order to do so. Just! In the late 1980s the Zoo was technically bankrupt and on the point of closure. Its problems were mostly of its own making, it emerged. A culture of arrogance and complacency among its inadequate and failing management had caused almost terminal damage the Zoo and to the morale of its staff.

Only the pressure brought by influential voices and an inspired fly-on-the-wall TV documentary persuaded the government to back a new management team with new funds, thereby saving the world's oldest public zoo from extinction. Adaptation has been a necessity throughout London's history. There were protests of shock and horror, for example, when the skyline over Regent's Park was suddenly dominated by the gleaming dome and minaret of the new London Central Mosque on the west side of the park. There has been no criticism and much praise for the introduction of open-air theatre in the centre of the park. And it seems there may be changes afoot for London University's Bedford College site, now that 'rationalisation' threatens its future on the south-west corner, overlooking the lake. The park was largely comprised of informal open grass-land until the early 1930s when members of the British Shrub Growers' Association decided to form a garden within the park  mostly stocked with plants donated by members. A couple of years later the Rose Growers took over and again donations were made by members who named the garden after Queen Mary, widow of George V who died in 1936.

Tragically, and etched into the memories of many local residents, even the famous band-stand is no longer original. Following its destruction by a terrorist bomb in 1982, it has been restored of course. But the squalid attempt by the IRA to win friends and influence people by murdering bandsmen and members of the public two years ago will not be forgotten. Other things don't change in Regent's Park. They still play cricket there and, if you can shut your eyes to the hideous refreshment kiosks, you have superb views across to Winfield House, The Holme the lake and Nash's terraces now that Dutch Elm Disease has rather brutally denuded the park of so many of its trees. All in all, it seems that the park, its landmarks and institutions face their ups and downs with dignity and that the Royal Parks department makes a good job of maintaining the area. So even if the 'grand scheme' was in honour of an unworthy Prince, the millions who love and use it each year must surely consider Nash worthy of some honour for creating it as grandly as he did.

John Nash (Architect) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News John Nash John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London. related links The Rally: Pivotal Position â Offensive Line Or Secondary? The Independent Florida Alligator Google News - Aug 30, 2011 'Think <mark>John Nash</mark> from âA Beautiful Mind,â only with football diagrams instead of equations. But it&#39;s precisely because Muschamp&#39;s brain is so big and the defense is so talented that the offensive line is key. If Florida can put up points at a decent' George Iv: The Rehabilitation Of Old Naughty The Guardian Google News - Aug 28, 2011 'The period&#39;s defining architect is <mark>John Nash</mark>, with his crazily clashing source material.

He built stage sets for the Prince Regent&#39;s no-rules lifestyle: as well as the Royal Pavilion, he carried out endless and unaffordable remodellings of Carlton' Wozniacki Back In New Haven Final The Hour Google News - Aug 27, 2011 'NEW HAVEN -- Caroline Wozniacki, the Princess of Yale, overcame a tight groin and forced back each and every challenge that came from the other side of the net, earning a straight set victory and a fourth straight trip to' Fundamental Steps To Save Our Economy Tbo.Com Google News - Aug 26, 2011 'By <mark>John Nash</mark>, Of Cabbages and Kings Seems as though most everyone (ie, those who are literate, at least) is more concerned about the sad state of our economy than about anything else, including drought, wars, famine,' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of John Nash. CHILDHOOD 1752 Birth Nash was born during 1752 in Lambeth, south London, the son of a Welsh millwright also called John (1714â1772).

TEENAGE 1766 14 Years Old From 1766 or 67, John Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor; the apprenticeship was completed in 1775 or 1776. TWENTIES 1775 - 1777 2 More Events 1775 23 Years Old On 28 April 1775, at the now demolished church of St Mary Newington, Nash married his first wife Jane Elizabeth Kerr, daughter of a surgeon. … Read More Initially he seems to have pursued a career as a surveyor, builder and carpenter. This gave him an income of around Â£300 a year. The couple set up home at Royal Row Lambeth. Read Less 1777 25 Years Old He established his own architectural practice in 1777 as well as being in partnership with a timber merchant, Richard Heaviside. … Read More The couple had two children, both were baptised at St Mary-at-Lambeth, John on 9 June 1776 and Hugh on 28 April 1778.

Read Less 1778 26 Years Old In June 1778 "By the ill conduct of his wife found it necessary to send her into Wales in order to work a reformation on her", the cause of this appears to have been the claim that Jane Nash "Had imposed two spurious children on him as his and her own, notwithstanding she had then never had any child" and she had contracted several debts unknown to her husband, including one for milliners' bills of Â£300. … Read More The claim that Jane had faked her pregnancies and then passed babies she had acquired off as her own was brought before the Consistory court of the Bishop of London. His wife was sent to Aberavon to lodge with Nash's cousin Ann Morgan, but she developed a relationship with a local man Charles Charles. Read Less 1779 27 Years Old In an attempt at reconciliation Jane returned to London in June 1779, but she continued to act extravagantly so he sent her to another cousin, Thomas Edwards of Neath. … Read More She gave birth just after Christmas, and acknowledged Charles Charles as the father.

Read Less 1781 29 Years Old In 1781 Nash instigated action against Jane for separation on grounds of adultery. The case was tried at Hereford in 1782, Charles who was found guilty was unable to pay the damages of Â£76 and subsequently died in prison. The divorce was finally read 26 January 1787. … Read More His career was initially unsuccessful and short-lived. After inheriting Â£1000 in 1778 from his uncle Thomas, he invested the money in building his first known independent works, 15â17 Bloomsbury Square and 66â71 Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury. Read Less THIRTIES 1783 - 1784 2 More Events 1783 31 Years Old But the property failed to let and he was declared bankrupt on 30 September 1783.

… Read More His debts were Â£5000, including Â£2000 he had been lent by Robert Adam and his brothers.<br /><br /> A blue plaque commemorating Nash was placed on 66 Great Russell Street by English Heritage in 2013. Read Less 1784 32 Years Old Nash left London in 1784 to live in Carmarthen, where his mother had retired to, her family being from the area. 1785 33 Years Old In 1785 he and a local man Samuel Simon Saxon re-roofed the town's church for 600 Guineas. … Read More Nash and Saxon seem to have worked as building contractors and suppliers of building materials. Nash's London buildings had been standard Georgian terrace houses, and it was in Wales that he matured as an architect. Read Less Show Less His first major work in the area was the first of three prisons he would design, Carmarthen 1789â92, this prison was planned by the penal reformer John Howard and Nash developed this into the finished building.

… Read More He went on to design the prisons at Cardigan (1791â96) and Hereford (1792â96). It was at Hereford that Nash met Richard Payne Knight, whose theories on the picturesque as applies to architecture and landscape would influence Nash. The commission for Hereford Gaol came after the death of William Blackburn, who was to have designed the building, Nash's design was accepted after James Wyatt approved of the design. Read Less By 1789 St David's Cathedral was suffering from structural problems, the west front was leaning forward by one foot, Nash was called in to survey the structure and develop a plan to save the building, his solution completed in 1791 was to demolish the upper part of the facade and rebuild it with two large but inelegant flying buttresses. 1790 38 Years Old In 1790 Nash met Uvedale Price, whose theories of the Picturesque would have a major future influence on Nash's town planning. … Read More In the short term Price would commission Nash to design Castle House Aberystwyth (1795).

Its plan took the form of a rightangled triangle, with an octagonal tower at each corner, sited on the very edge of the sea. This marked a new and more imaginative approach to design in Nash's work. One of Nash's most important developments were a series of medium-sized country houses that he designed in Wales, these developed the villa designs of his teacher Sir Robert Taylor. Most of these villas consist of a roughly square plan with a small entrance hall with a staircase offset in the middle to one side, around which are placed the main rooms, there is then a less prominent Servants' quarters in a wing attached to one side of the villa. The buildings are usually only two floors in height, the elevations of the main block are usually symmetrical. One of the finest of these villas is Llanerchaeron, at least a dozen villas were designed throughout south Wales. Others, in Pembrokeshire, include Ffynone, built for the Colby family at Boncath near Manordeifi, and Foley House, built for the lawyer Richard Foley (brother of Admiral Sir Thomas Foley) at Goat Street in Haverfordwest.

Read Less FORTIES 1792 - 1795 2 More Events 1792 40 Years Old He met Humphry Repton at Stoke Edith in 1792 and formed a successful partnership with the landscape garden designer. … Read More One of their early commissions was at Corsham Court in 1795â96. The pair would collaborate to carefully place the Nash-designed building in grounds designed by Repton. The partnership ended in 1800 under recriminations, Repton accusing Nash of exploiting their partnership to his own advantage. Read Less 1795 43 Years Old As Nash developed his architectural practice it became necessary to employ draughtsmen, the first in the early 1790s was Augustus Charles Pugin, then a bit later in 1795 John Adey Repton son of Humphry. 1796 44 Years Old In 1796, Nash spent most of his time working in London, this was a prelude to his return to the capital in 1797.

1797 45 Years Old In June 1797, he moved into 28 Dover Street, a building of his own design. … Read More He built a larger house next door at 29, into which he moved the following year. Read Less Show Less Nash married 25-year-old Mary Ann Bradley on 17 December 1798 at St George's, Hanover Square. In 1798, he purchased a plot of land of at East Cowes on which he erected 1798â1802 East Cowes Castle as his residence. … Read More It was the first of a series of picturesque Gothic castles that he would design.<br /><br /> Nash's final home in London was No.14 Regent Street that he designed and built 1819â23, No. 16 was built at the same time the home of Nash's cousin John Edwards, a lawyer who handled all of Nash's legal affairs. Located in Lower Regent Street, near Waterloo Place, both houses formed a single design around an open courtyard.

Nash's drawing office was on the ground floor, on the first floor was the finest room in the house, the 70-foot-long picture and sculpture gallery; it linked the drawing room at the front of the building with the dining room at the rear. The house was sold in 1834 and the gallery interior moved to East Cowes Castle.<br /><br /> The finest of the dozen country houses that Nash designed as picturesque castles include the relatively small Luscombe Castle Devon (1800â04), Ravensworth Castle (Tyne and Wear) begun 1807 only finally completed in 1846, was one of the largest houses by Nash, Caerhays Castle in Cornwall (1808â10), Shanbally Castle, County Tipperary (1818â1819) was the last of these castles to be built. These buildings all represented Nash's continuing development of an asymmetrical and picturesque architectural style, that had begun during his years in Wales, at both Castle House Aberystwyth and his alterations to Hafod Uchtryd.

This process would be extended by Nash in planning groups of buildings, the first example being Blaise Hamlet (1810â1811); there a group of nine asymmetrical cottages was laid out around a village green. Read Less FIFTIES 1806 54 Years Old Nash was a dedicated Whig and was a friend of Charles James Fox through whom Nash probably came to the attention of the Prince Regent (later King George IV). In 1806 Nash was appointed architect to the Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases. 1810 58 Years Old From 1810 Nash would take very few private commissions and for the rest of his career he would largely work for the Prince. … Read More His first major commissions in (1809â1826) from the Prince were Regent Street and the development of an area then known as Marylebone Park.

With the Regent's backing, Nash created a master plan for the area, put into effect from 1818 onwards, which stretched from St James's northwards and included Regent Street, Regent's Park (1809â1832) and its neighbouring streets, terraces and crescents of elegant town houses and villas. Nash did not design all the buildings himself; in some instances, these were left in the hands of other architects such as James Pennethorne and the young Decimus Burton. Nash went on to re-landscape St. James's Park (1814â1827), reshaping the formal canal into the present lake, and giving the park its present form. A characteristic of Nash's plan for Regent Street was that it followed an irregular path linking Portland Place to the north with Carlton House, London (replaced by Nash's Carlton House Terrace (1827â1833)) to the south.

At the northern end of Portland Place Nash designed Park Crescent, London (1812) & (1819â1821), this opens into Nash's Park Square, London (1823â24), this only has terraces on the east and west, the north opens into Regent's Park. Read Less LATE ADULTHOOD 1812 60 Years Old Nash was also a director of the Regent's Canal Company set up in 1812 to provide a canal link from west London to the River Thames in the east. … Read More Nash's masterplan provided for the canal to run around the northern edge of Regent's Park; as with other projects, he left its execution to one of his assistants, in this case James Morgan. The first phase of the Regent's Canal was completed in 1816 and finally completed in 1820.

Read Less 1813 61 Years Old Together with Robert Smirke and Sir John Soane, he became an official architect to the Office of Works in 1813, (the appointment ended in 1832) at a salary of Â£500 per annum, following the death in September of that year of James Wyatt, this marked the high point in his professional life. 1818 66 Years Old As part of Nash's new position he was invited to advise the Parliamentary Commissioners on the building of new churches from 1818 onwards. … Read More Nash produced ten church designs, each estimated to cost around Â£10,000 with seating for 2000 people, the style of the buildings were both classical and gothic. In the end Nash only built two churches for the Commission, the classical All Souls Church, Langham Place (1822â24) terminating the northern end of Regent Street, and the gothic St.

Mary's Haggerston (1825â27), bombed during The Blitz in 1941.<br /><br /> Nash was involved in the design of two of London's theatres, both in Haymarket. The King's Opera House (now rebuilt as Her Majesty's Theatre) (1816â1818) where he and George Repton remodelled the theatre, with arcades and shops around three sides of the building, the fourth being the still surviving Royal Opera Arcade. The other theatre was the Theatre Royal Haymarket (1821), with its fine hexastyle Corinthian order portico, which still survives, facing down Charles II Street to St. James's Square, Nash's interior nolonger survives (the interior now dates from 1904). Read Less 1820 68 Years Old In 1820 a scandal broke, when a cartoon was published showing a half dressed King George IV embracing Nash's wife with a speech bubble coming from the King's mouth containing the words "I have great pleasure in visiting this part of my dominions".

… Read More Whether this was based on just a rumour put about by people who resented Nash's success or if there is substance behind is not known.<br /><br /> Further London commissions for Nash followed, including the remodelling of Buckingham House to create Buckingham Palace (1825â1830), and for the Royal Mews (1822â24) and Marble Arch (1828) The arch was originally designed as a triumphal arch to stand at the entrance to Buckingham Palace. It was moved when the east wing of the palace designed by Edward Blore was built, at the request of Queen Victoria whose growing family required additional domestic space. Marble Arch became the entrance to Hyde Park and The Great Exhibition.<br /><br /> Many of Nash's buildings were built by property developer James Burton, who also lent him financial assistance when he encountered financial problems during his projects on Regent Street. In return, Nash promoted the career of Burton's son, Decimus Burton, who assisted him with several of his designs.

Nash was appointed architectural 'overseer' for Decimus's Regent's Park projects: Cornwall Terrace, York Terrace, Chester Terrace and the villas of the Inner Circle, including The Holme. However, to the chagrin of Nash, Decimus largely disregarded his advice and developed the Terraces according his own style, to the extent that Nash sought the demolition and complete rebuilding of Chester Terrace, but in vain. Decimus also emerged as the dominant force in the design of Carlton House Terrace. Read Less 1829 77 Years Old … Nash's career effectively ended with the death of George IV in 1830. The King's notorious extravagance had generated much resentment and Nash was now without a protector. The Treasury started to look closely at the cost of Buckingham Palace. Read Less Nash's original estimate of the building's cost had been Â£252,690, but this had risen to Â£496,169 in 1829 the actual cost was Â£613,269 and the building was still unfinished.

… Read More This controversy ensured that Nash would not receive any more official commissions nor would he be awarded the Knighthood that other contemporary architects such as Jeffry Wyattville, John Soane and Robert Smirke received. Nash retired to the Isle of Wight to his home, East Cowes Castle. Read Less

Question: What famous London building did John Nash rebuild in 1825?
Answer: Buckingham Palace